The Hammer Creek near Lititz, PA

Photography by John Fass

Above: John's brother-in-law Clarence Wert, along the Hammer Creek. (Clarence was a printer at the Lancaster Press, and was married to John's sister Esther.)

Lancaster County was a muse to John Fass' creativity, and the Hammer Creek was a symbol of that inspiration.

John Fass named his private press the Hammer Creek Press, for this stream that flowed near his home town. His Hammer Creek pressmark was a turtle, symbolizing slow and deliberate craftsmanship. The Hammer Creek represented life in the slow lane, far from the fast pace of life in Manhattan.

Above: Covered Bridge over the Hammer Creek

Above: Stone arches at a mill along the Hammer Creek

This mill and the covered bridge, above, were featured as wood engravings in John Fass' 1956 book A Primer of Life Along the Hammer Creek. The engravings were by John's friend John DePol.

Above: John Fass perched above the Hammer Creek

Black and White Photographs of the Hammer Creek by John Fass circa 1951: